Man dies in elevator accident in Wichita

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A man in his 30s is dead after an accident involving an elevator.

It happened at 141 North Rock Island before 10:30 a.m. at a building being renovated into apartments.

A man and another worker were on the elevator and getting ready to head up to another floor.

“As the elevator was rising, the man for some reason fell down. He got his head caught between the elevator and the floor and the brick wall crushing his skull,” said Lt. E.J. Bastian, Wichita Police Department. “It is a pulley type system. The other guy was pulling the elevator up. That is why his back was turned to his friend.”

Police say the man may have suffered from asthma and may have been coughing right before the accident.

“Real freak accident. Never seen anything like this,” added Lt. Bastian. “Once he heard the guy fall, popping noise, that is when he turned around, and it was to late.”

There were no other workers inside the building at the time.

The Sedgwick County coroner and detectives were called to the scene

“Anytime, when someone dies, we call out the coroner and detectives and our lab. They all come out,” said Bastian.